I budget and just do the best l can!

You buy little gifts and non perishable food items when the sales are on during the year. Sometimes you can get nice Christmas decorations or trees from op shops or garage sales for a fraction of their original price. The main thing is to have family around and laughter and singing in the home to celebrate Christmas.

The photos people post are a small perfect snippet from a much larger, imperfect reality. Things don’t make Christmas memorable, spending time does.
Don’t worry yourself, mumma.

Forget the photos around of fab spreads – they’ve posed it for the photo! You can have a lovely Christmas without going overboard and spending heaps of money. My favourite decorations are ones my kids made through the years and the best foods are the ones made with love from scratch. We live super frugal because we are trying to pay down our credit card debts but I think we have a high quality of life. We all have meals we specialise in and we often make presents for others in our family, rather then spend a lot of money. When we do spend we often buy sale items ahead of time and store them until needed.

Nope. Most people don’t live like that. We manage a good lunch by buying some things on sale well in advance (things like savory biscuits and soft drink, for example).

There are plenty of sales to get cheap decorations etc at a fraction of the usual price. I always get these items at sale time.

I hear you! I buy throughout the year whenever I see a good special. So by the time Xmas rolls around, I have a whole heap of things already so I don’t feel the financial burden.

I save my points to use at Christmas and usually start shopping after the last birthday in my house which is the beginning of September. This year I tried to just get what they asked for or needed which didn’t seem like much but still feel like I went.overboard this year. It’s something we have been able to afford but I’m feeling it’s not a necessity. I also haven’t bought any new decorations in at least 3 years and let the kids decorate the tree with their homemade stuff, I’m learning to let go of everything looking picture perfect

We budget and buy gifts throughout the year and also accrue points to purchase food for Christmas. We do not go overboard and always stay on budget. We do what works best for our family and it is best not to compare with other people. Outward appearances are not always what they seem. Some of our best Christmas experiences have been low key.

Who says you need to do the same as some other people do ? who says you need the most beautiful decorated home and food galore ? Who says that will make you happy ?

make what you can and spend what you can afford

Don’t over thinking. Just spend what you can.

Just enjoy Christmas with what you have Most people who have extravagant decorations etc I think have probably added a few over many years as most people can’t afford them now days.

Don’t fall for the old “Keeping up with the Jones’s”. As long as there is love in your home and you’ve done what you can then that’s all that matters. I’ve never had a flash party or decorated the house to outshine others. We just had a great time and that was all I could ever want

Dont think you are doing anything wrong. Do what you can within your means.
Decorations can be bought on sale or on market place groups.
For the Kids presents, you can look for sales throughout the year or layby to lighten the financial load.
Food wise, just make what you and the kids like and add a few nice sides if you want to give it a Christmas feel. (You’d be surprised how much of the others people foods all goes to waste, so don’t worry about their spread of food)
Hope you have a lovely Christmas with your children